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Alberta September Labour Market Report

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Alberta's Labour Force Statistics have been released for September with generally positive news as the local economy holds steady as we move into the fall. The year over year numbers are extremely strong as Alberta has seen employment increase dramatically over the last year and is experiencing the lowest unemployment rate in Canada.

Highlights:

Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.4% in September 2012, unchanged from August 2012 and down 0.9 percentage points from the same month last year. This rate was the lowest among provinces. The national rate was 7.4%, up 0.1 percentage points from the month before.

The labour force increased by 2,400 people and employment increased by 2,100 from August to September 2012.

Full-time employment increased by 3,600 and part-time employment decreased by 1,500 people in September from the previous moth.

Between September 2011 and September 2012, employment increased by 37,400 in Alberta, the second highest increase in the country behind Ontario’s 44,700. This employment increase accounted for 21.4% of Canada’s employment growth over the same period.

Edmonton’s unemployment rate of 4.5% and Calgary’s 4.7% in September were ranked second and third, respectively, behind Regina’s 4.0% among Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas.

The following industries had the most employment increases in September from the previous month: Transportation and Warehousing, 8,100; Public Administration, 4,600; and Manufacturing, 4,100.